A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Side by Side in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off paths and streets that once connected them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Analysis of government figures shows the extent of inequality can run, sometimes across little more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.
This geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a significant rise in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent people end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the UK and starkly obvious. The wall is much more than a symbolic divide; it creates tangible difficulties for daily routines.
- The school commute that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey.
- Reaching key services like grocery stores, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult.
- The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related problems.
“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.
Community Spirit Against a Backdrop of Hardship
Within Centre4, staff emphasise that need does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained director a community leader.
Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial gap is evident: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable properties fetch about £410,000.
Locals speak of a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.
